The Sopranos [The Pilot Episode]

Considering this is my first “TV TimeOut” article – the first of many, I hope, I decided it would only be fitting to start it off right.  Thus, we begin with the 1999 pilot episode of The Sopranos.  It only took me 10 plus years, but I have finally been exposed to my first episode of this critically acclaimed show.

Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) framed between the legs of a carved statue of a woman holding her hands above her head.  Tony sits there, staring quizzically at this statue – almost as if he’s praying to a God he doesn’t know exists or not.  And this is where our journey begins, between the legs of a cold, carved out woman in the waiting room of his new therapist (Lorraine Bracco).

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Top 7 Tuesday: Valentines [Brad]

As a kid, my least favorite Holiday was Valentine’s Day.  I remember crafting those Valentines card collection boxes for your school desk and secretly sneaking through the classroom dropping Star Wars V-Day cards in various desks of unwelcoming girls.  I Choo-Choo-Choose You!  Bleck.  Now, I’m married (never thought that would happen), and I love Valentine’s Day.  And now I’ve got new found appreciation for Romance in Cinema.  Films I once thought of as mushy dreck like French Kiss and It Could Happen To You hold new meaning.  Also, I find Love in films where I never saw it before.  Which is why my Top 7 might start off a little odd, before eventually turning a little more conventional.

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An Interview with Director John Landis

Director John Landis

Fashionably a few minutes late, American film director John Landis entered the tiny room at New York University with a Diet Coke in hand.  Escorted by Film Criticism Professor and New York Times film critic Dave Kehr, and his British side-kick, Justin, Landis didn’t take long to make himself right at home.  He quickly began cracking jokes with the students and even calling a couple of them “lying sacks of shit,” as he joked about the students’ homework assignment that may or may not have been completed before he arrived.

In town to help promote his new book Monsters in the Movies at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s cinématek series, “See You Next Wednesday: 8 Films by John Landis,” the Chicago-born, L.A.-raised native brings a Hollywood style swagger to the East Coast.

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Top 7 Tuesday: Film Resolutions [Matt]

So, I’m using some movies for inspiration in the new year.  Got to be a better person, right?
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Top 7 Tuesday: Film Resolutions [Jeff]

Happy New Year everyone! 2012 is here, and with it another year packed with (some)great new movies, and more time to watch and re-watch the bazillion that are already at our disposal as we begin yet another 365 day journey into the world of watching, critiquing, discussing, and complaining about films! As a film fanatic who watches his fair share throughout the year, I have come up with 7 resolutions that I hope I can find some success with. I had set a few goals last year that I failed to stick to, so hopefully publishing this article, and having you the readers aware of these challenges I might end the year on a successful note! So here you have it, my top 7 Film Resolutions for 2012.

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Top 7 Tuesday: The Years Best [Jeff]

Here it is, the Top 7 list to end all Top 7′s (well…of 2011 that is).  This has been a great year for films, and I have seen a lot of great ones, so picking this top 7 was extremely difficult there are plenty I had to regretfully leave on the chopping block, and too many that I sadly haven’t watched. However before we dive in I will list some truly honorable mentions which include include: J.Edgar, X-Men: First Class, Captain America, The Adjustment Bureau, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2, 50/50, Money Ball, and Shaolin…

…and so here we have it, my Top 7 Films of 2011…

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Top 7 Tuesday: The Year’s Best [Matt]

I’ve been dubbing 2011 “The Year That Reminded Me Why I Love Movies.”  It’s not to say that this year had more masterpieces.  Nor that recent years didn’t have good films.  But I felt more giddy and excited at the theater this year than I have in a LONG time.  Sure, there were a bunch of the usual blockbuster type films that we get ever year.  And some of them were A-OK.  I liked Cowboys & Aliens, Thor, and the new Sherlock Holmes films just fine.  And had the expected reaction (it’s cleared up since) to the latest Transformers abomination.  It seemed that every couple of weeks I would see something really fun, really weird, really cool, or just really different.  Lots of movies took chances this year.  Like last year, there was a lot of nostalgia present, which is something I tend to respond to.  At times, it felt like movie makers had forgotten that this wasn’t the mid 80s.  Anyway, what follows isn’t quite a list of the ‘best’ films of the year so much as the films I had the most fun watching.
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Top 7 Tuesday: The Years Best [Brad]

2011 was another fine year in cinema.  And narrowing my favorite films to the Top 7 was incredibly difficult.  I’d love to toss out some honorable mentions to the geeky love of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, the Roger Cormany exploitation of Drive Angry 3D, the beautifully weird film school pretentiousness of Rubber, and the insane Samurai action of 13 Assassins.  And if those honors don’t give you a clue, don’t expect to see Tree of Life, Melancholia, or The Artist here.  As solid as those films may have been I’m a genre boy through and through and these are my year’s Best Films…

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Top 7 Tuesday: Not So Ho Ho Holiday Films [Jeff]

When I talk about favorite Holiday films Die Hard always gets a well deserved mention,  which is usually soon followed by a puzzling look from whomever I am speaking with. Of course once they stop and think about it, they realize that yeah, Die Hard really is a Christmas movies isn’t it!? As I love watching horror films in October, I love watching Christmas films in December! Its a stressful and busy time of the year for me at work, so its nice to remind myself that this is supposed to be a festive and happy season. Of course among the “Holiday family classics” its always a treat to toss in a few unconventional watches to spice things up. Here are a few examples of some not so Ho Ho Holiday films!

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Top 7 Tuesday: Not So Ho Ho Holiday Films [Matt]

For many, the holiday season is a time of joy and family.  But, you know, sometimes that’s not what I’m in the mood for.  One of the sad facts of my adult life is that I don’t really enjoy this season.  Due to various reasons, personal and professional, it’s actually the least wonderful time of the year.  Sometimes it feels good to watch some bad ’round the holidays.  Here are a few of my favorite unpleasant holiday films.

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